Kanhaiya Kumar to meet Rahul Gandhi and join Congress?

Former JNU students' union president and CPI leader Kanhaiya Kumar is in talks with Congress leaders to join the party, sources in the party told ANI.

If Kumar joins the Congress, a dramatic change might come about in the opposition in the coming days. If all goes well, a meeting will be arranged with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after which he may join the party, sources said.

Kumar had fought the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 on CPI ticket but lost to BJP's Girraj Singh. Since then he has maintained a low profile and is now set to launch a fresh political innings in the Congress.

A top Congress source said that including Kanhaiya in the Congress is under serious consideration at the top level of the party, but it has not yet been finalised how and when he will join. The joining could be significant at a time when the party is apparently facing a leadership crisis with no big faces to attract the masses.

Kumar is considered to be a crowd puller, especially among youth. But the Congress needs to consider how this will be viewed by its ally the Rashtriya Janta Dal.

A senior leader told ANI that talks were initiated during the Bihar assembly polls too, but for some reason, no fruitful results came. Now another round of talks have been started with the young leader, sources told ANI.